Instead of storing your books upright on top of the shelf, the inverted bookshelf holds all of your books in place using elastic webbing so you can hang them below the shelf—all the while allowing you to still take them out and put them back on as needed.

To make one, you'll need your basic tools, some elastic webbing that's strong enough to hold the books, and a staple gun. To ensure that the elastic doesn't break and send your books tumbling to the floor, you'll need to do some careful measuring. In the case of a book where the average width is one inch, for example, the ideal length of elastic will be around 14 inches. For your smaller books, using one strap should do.

Take a look at the full guide for the step-by-step and, if you prefer to keep your books upright, check out our practical—yet still fun—post on how to build an invisible floating bookshelf instead.